Stuffed Mushrooms, Baked Pancakes and Taco Soup

Lately I've had more mediocre attempts with food than I did anything remarkable. (The only reason I share the recipes I didn't like is to give others a chance to try it and also just share my flops as well as my wins). Anyway, my only winning recipe as of late was for Green Bean Stuffed Mushrooms and they went over extremely well. I've never dealt with stuffed mushrooms so I was also pleasantly surprised! (Thank God because I made them for a crowd of Christmas dinner guests. I always try new recipes for crowds, what is wrong with me??)

Green Bean Casserole Stuffed Mushrooms

(This is not my image - all of the pictures I took of them were awful but they looked a lot like this)

3 turkey bacon strips, diced
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 can (14 1/2 oz) French style green beans, drained
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 cup condensed cream of onion, undiluted
1/4 cup water
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp pepper
1 cup dry bread crumbs
30 whole baby portobello mushrooms
cooking spray
1 can (2.8 oz) French fried onions

1. In a small skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Place the green beans, 1/2 cup cheese, soup, water, nutmeg, pepper and bacon mixture in a food processor; process until blended. Transfer to a small bowl; fold in bread crumbs.

(I didn't want to process them in a food processor. I kept imagining eating mushy green bean casserole so instead I mixed everything, with less water, in a large bowl. I was really happy with how it turned out)

2. Remove stems from mushrooms; discard stems or save for another use. Spritz mushroom caps with cooking spray; place in ungreased baking pan, stem side down. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, turning once. 

3. Drain liquid from caps; fill with green bean mixture. Top with remaining cheese and fried onions. Bake 8-10 minutes longer or until mushrooms are tender and filling is heated through.

Baked Blueberry Pancakes

The Recipe

This was a Pinterest find that I wanted to try out and it really didn't impress me. The batter was very bland and it's only redemption was the blueberries. I very well could have done something wrong because I really like my other baked pancake recipe (found here). Hopefully it turns out better for you if you try it! 

Fiesta Turkey Tortilla Soup

Four 14 1/2 oz cans chicken broth

3 cups shredded cooked turkey

One 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

One 15 1/4 oz can drained whole kernel corn 

1/2 cup medium salsa 

Five 6 inch corn tortillas

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Simmer cans of chicken broth, cooked turkey (I used chicken), black beans, corn and salsa for 10 minutes. Cut corn tortillas into 1/4 inch strips; bake at 400 degrees for 4-6 minutes or until golden brown. Stir in fresh cilantro (I used a couple of tablespoons of dried cilantro because it's what I had on hand). Serve with tortilla strips and additional salsa. 

This recipe had another slightly disappointing turnout. It reminded me a lot of the Chickadilla Soup I tried and loved a few weeks ago (I've recently renamed it "Enchilada Soup" because saying "Chickadilla" makes me feel like an idiot.) It didn't have a lot of flavor and felt like it was just lacking. It's good for when you need to make something quickly but it's not my favorite.